An Into the Body Experience

I was driving home tonight, and suddenly, the windscreen of the car became my eye.
I was looking out through the windscreen, just as I look out through my eyes. The car was my body.
I realised that I had climbed into the car, just as I climbed into my body of flesh.
It was just another layer.
I was existing in Toyotamaya Kosha!
I put on the body of steel and rubber, oil and petrol, and I wore it and controlled it for as long as it was useful. It got me home, and then I climbed out of it.
I dropped my Toyotamaya kosha.
I didn't mind.
If I need to travel some more, I can put it back on. Or another one.
Some people become very attached to their Toyotamaya kosha, and if it gets damaged, it upsets them. They might even wince or cry.
But really, they know it's just a shell. Just a tool for getting around. But as long as they have their Toyota (or Ford, or BMW) maya kosha, they feel a great deal of attachment to it.
When it comes time to part with this vehicle for the last time, and send it to the scrap heap, there may be a little tear, a feeling of fond memories. But we move onto our next car, and the old one is soon forgotten.
It's so easy to drop your Toyotamaya kosha.
And it's just as easy to drop your Annamaya kosha.

February Mrityunjaya

Next months Mrityunjaya session will be held on Saturday 26th February. 7PM for a 7:30PM start.

For more information, email mrityunjaya dot mantra at gmail dot com.

We will be following roughly the same program. Hopefully my cow dung will have arrived from India, and we will be able to perform Mrityunjaya as a havan!

As this is the first time we'll be doing the 'reading circle', I've taken the liberty of choosing the passage for the this meeting. I have chosen Bhagavad Gita, 3.27-35.

From Juan Mascaro:

27. All actions take place in time by the interweaving of the forces of Nature; but the man lost in selfish delusion thinks that he himself is the actor. 

28. But the man who knows the relation between the forces of Nature and actions, sees how some forces of Nature work upon other forces of Nature, and becomes not their slave. 

29. Those who are under the delusion of the forces of Nature bind themselves to the work of these forces. Let not the wise man who sees the All disturb the unwise who sees not the All .

30. Offer to me all thy works and rest thy mind on the Supreme. Be free from vain hopes and selfish thoughts, and with inner peace fight thou thy fight. 

31. Those who ever follow my doctrine and who have faith, and have a good will, find through pure work their freedom. 

32. But those who follow not my doctrine, and who have ill-will, are men blind to all wisdom, confused in the mind; they are lost. 

33. 'Even a wise man acts under the impulse of his nature: all beings follow nature. Of what use is restraint?' 

34. Hate and lust for things of nature have their roots in man's lower nature. Let him not fall under their power: they are the two enemies in his path. 

35. And do thy duty, even if it be humble, rather than another's, even if it be great. To die in one's duty is life: to live in another's is death.

From 'Walking with the Gita' (MacCuish et al):

27. He whose mind is confused by egoism imagines 'I am the doer', whereas in fact all actions are carried out by the three qualities of nature. 

28. But those who know the truth, O Arjuna, understand the relationship between the gunas and action, and are not attached. 

29. Those who are deluded by the qualities of material nature become attached to material activities. 

30. Dedicating all actions to Me, meditating on the Supreme Spirit, becoming free from the wising and selfishness fever, you must fight! 

31. Whoever constantly practices tis teaching of Mine, with pure faith and without complaint, is released from karma. 

32. But those who, out of envy, disregard these teachings and misunderstand everything, become lost and are the cause of their own suffering. 

33. All beings act according to their own nature, even the wise. Why try to force anything to be otherwise? 

34. It is natural for the sense o be attracted to that which is pleasant and to reject the unpleasant, but you must not come under the power of these two forces, because they are your enemies. 

35. It is better to perform your own duty imperfectly, than someone else's perfectly. In fact, it is better to die in ones own duty, because following someone else's path is dangerous.

First Saturday Mrityunjaya

Poornamurti and I are now holding once monthly Maha Mrityunjaya sessions, on the last saturday of each month.

At these sessions, we will open with Shanti Mantra, chant Mrityunjaya 108 times, followed by Guru Stotram. We'll then chant anything else anyone wishes to suggest.

We are also going to try to specify a verse or passage from a 'suitable source' each month. We'll publish this at least a couple of weekse before the meeting. Those interested can then read, cogitate, meditate etc on the passage, and we can discuss at the meeting.

Finally, we shall close with Shanti Path.

This Saturday was the first of these. We had not yet decided to do the readings thing, but Saddhana had brought along the Sankalpa of Paramahamsa Satyananda-ji, which she read out for us. It's beautiful piece of writing:

I am an invisible child of a thousand faces of love

That floats over the swirling sea of life,

Surrounded by the meadows of the winged shepherds,

Where stillness of divine love and beauty

Rain in the spring and bloom in the midnight

Summer’s warmth of softness.

Often I pass to the place

Where there is no separation of the sun and moon,

But where eternal light spreads a carpet

Of sparkling reflections of itself

Within the hearts and eyes of all,

Even those who are blind to see.

Where sweetness has no taste,

For it is the essence of all beings,

And where teardrops water flowers of happiness

And pass into brooklets of experience

And then to the open sea.

Life often cuts at my body and mind,

And though blood may be seen passing,

And a cry might be heard,

Do not be deceived that sorrow could dwell within my being,

Or suffering within my soul.

There shall never be a storm

That can wash the path from my feet,

The direction from my heart, the light from my eyes,

Or the purpose from this life.

I know that I am untouchable to the forces

As long as I have a direction, an aim, a goal: To serve, to love, and to Give.

Strength lies in the magnification of the secret qualities

Of my own personality, my own character,

And though I am only a messenger, I am me.

Let me decorate a thousand faces with colour of inspiration

And soft, silent sounds of value.

Let me be like a child,

Run barefoot through the forest

Of laughing and crying people,

Giving flowers of imagination and wonder that God gives free.

Do I have time to ask whom I shall love?

From whom shall ask for something more

Than all I have been given,

Or what is meant by the signs that pass before my windows?

I learnt to read half a century ago but found it useful

Only for speaking to those who continue to live by books.

I shall not pretend to understand

Nor shall I try to reason for the satisfaction of rationalisation.

Yesterday I sat in the park and shared an orange

And an afternoon with the divines and myself

And who am I?

Don’t be deceived by my words, my manner, my way,

Or by my friendliness, or by the image of that of a man.

I sleep, eat, talk and play with you and others,

But remember that the gift of inspiration, or perfection,

Is a priceless island of treasure,

Which that whom we call God placed at the end of the rainbows.

If I believe I have the strength to hold back seas, to move mountains,

And the determination to live and love life,

It is because I have felt and seen an image of inspiration

Visible to my unseeing eyes.

Yes, yesterday I cried when I read sorrow in the heart of my love,

For I am more than human,

And I laughed from my belly

When I saw two camels playing in a sea of yellow.

I am not insensitive, nor have I dulled my senses,

But never shall I become submerged or lost

In the experience of these images,

Of these feelings, of these emotions.

Don’t think that as a child

My heart cannot turn as hard as stone,

When the arrow of opposition to what I believe in

Tries to pierce my centre of principle and character.

I have a cause, a meaning, a worth for individuality,

All as a means for living in this life,

For striding steps forward, for achieving a mission.

Shall I fall on bended knees

And wait for someone to bless me

With happiness and a life of golden dreams

No. I shall run into the desert of life with my arms open,

Sometimes falling, sometimes stumbling,

But always picking myself up;

A thousand times if necessary,

Sometimes happy.

Often life will burn me,

Often life will caress me tenderly

And many of my days will be haunted

With complications and obstacles

And there will be moments so beautiful

That my soul will weep in ecstasy.

I shall be a witness,

But never shall I run or turn from life, from me.

Never shall I forsake myself or the timeless lessons I have taught myself

Nor shall I let the value of divine inspiration and being be lost.

My rainbow coloured bubble

Will carry me further than beyond the horizon’s settings,

Forever to serve, to love, and to live as a sannyasin.

Poornamurti and I would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to those who attended, and hope to see you all again at future gatherings. For those who cold not come this time, please know that you are alway welcome.

Here is a photo of the little altar we put in place: